The Battle for Domino
by RHD-SHDWMN
Summary: A young boy and his friend strive to survive in the cutthroat competition that is Battle City. As battles are waged and rivalries are forged, something sinister brews behind the scenes that could determine the fate of the world.


**Hello, and welcome to my first ever fanfiction! Yaaaaay! Now this is going to be a retelling of the Battle City arc from Yu-Gi-Oh!. However, this is going to be an OC self-insert story. So instead of following Yugi Moto and the gang, it's going to follow my OC and a few others as they make their way through Battle City.**

 **But first, we need to establish some rules. First, I'm going with the original Japanese name for the Rare Hunters: Ghouls. This is for two reasons. First, it sounds cooler and more menacing. Second, it's shorter to say and to type. Hooray for laziness! Second, I'll be using cards only from when Battle City came out, and when it ended, so the most recent cards will be stuff like the Magnet Warriors and Jinzo and the god cards. Stuff like that. But if I use a card(s) that came out after, I apologize. Just let me know. Third, the rules of battle will have both duelists at 4000 LP like in the show, the first person will still be able to draw, and I'll even be having characters play monsters in face up defense mode, but everything else will be like how it is in real life. So no summoning monsters like Giltia the Dark Knight and Flame Swordsman through tribute summoning. Cards that are supposed to be trap cards like Call of the Haunted and Lightforce Sword will actually work like traps, so no activating them on the first turn. Also, fusion monsters can attack on the first turn as well. Third, none of this Shadow Realm stuff. It just sounds hokey. I'm wanting to create something where the main protagonist isn't expected to win every duel since that was sort of a weak point in the story. There will be Millennium Items, but the only one we'll see subject anyone to penalty games will be Marik. I don't really want to focus that much on the whole magic aspect of the show. Fourth, the ante rule will still be in play, so expect cards to be swapping hands a lot. Fifth, not every character will be an OC, but not every character who was in the show that I don't change will be in it as well. And last, there will be no Virtual World arc.**

 **And that's it. Now, I do accept constructive criticism which I will be expecting a lot of. This is my first attempt at fanfiction, and also just my first attempt at writing something that'll be published for people to see. But now that that's out of the way, enjoy! (hopefully)**

Jun Yamada was a perfectly normal boy in a perfectly normal family living a perfectly normal life.

So to say he wasn't expecting to get involved with the fate of the world would be an understatement.

Jun was having trouble staying awake in class. His teacher was boring and to him, was teaching a boring subject: history. History was always the one class Jun could barely focus on. It was especially bad today since he had stayed up until midnight on account of being too excited after hearing of a brand new type of Duel Monsters tournament that was going to take place in his very own home town of Domino.

"Yamada Junpei!" Mr. Otsuka called out.

"Y-yes, Otsuka-san!" Startled, Jun leapt out of his seat to address his teacher while trying to present himself as if he wasn't dozing off.

The rest of the day had passed with Jun still a bit on edge from being called out of the blue. No one had bothered to spend time with him for lunch, not even his best friend whom he figured was trying to get out of trouble. . . again. At sixteen, Jun was a pale, gangly youth with round glasses over his light-gray blue eyes, and had slightly unkempt black hair. He was a bit of a loner, and his thin frame, compared to most of the other students, served that purpose. He wasn't hated, but most everyone else preferred to spend time with their own friends and with people who weren't quiet and unassuming. All except one.

"Yo, Juny!" Jun's best friend of ten years, Sakura Harada, called out over the bustling crowd of teenagers going home. It took a little while longer than either of them would've liked, but eventually they made it to each other. Sakura is as different as different could get from Jun. Despite having to wear the girls' Domino High uniform, she was still able to show off her rebellious, punk girl style. Wild, dyed orange hair, black, stud earrings, a choker, and ripped jeans underneath her school skirt was Sakura Harada, and anyone who tried to subjugate her way of life got a less than friendly reminder that that isn't the best thing to do. And yet, they always had each other's backs when times would get rough. "Whew, 'bout time. Oh, what a cruel world! Why did they have to separate us for this year?" Sakura loved putting on an over dramatic façade whenever she brings up anything unpleasant yet trivial like being in a separate homeroom from Jun.

"Cuz they know we'd be spending class time plotting to take over the school."

"If only. But enough of that. Please tell me you saw the news yesterday?" As Sakura was asking Jun, she was bouncing up and down on her feet in excitement, almost to the point of jumping.

"I did. I'm soooooo excited!" The Duel Monsters trading card game city-wide tournament, an event dubbed as Battle City, was announced and was all set to begin in one week. The players, referred to as duelists, would go around the greater downtown and uptown areas of the city and engage in a card battle known as a duel. But the reason why people would have to walk around finding opponents instead of being seated at a bunch of chairs and tables and play is because KaibaCorp, a giant among other giants in the technological world, and the creator of the tourney, invented what's known as a duel disk. An arm-mounted device that lets players have standing duels anywhere in the world that allow the creatures and magic from the cards to materialize in holographic state and create incredible battle simulations to enhance the play experience. Jun and Sakura are two duelists who have been playing the game since it came out, and like others, really want to try out this new system.

"We gotta go if we wanna sign up and get our disks." Sakura said.

"Right. Fortunately, they said where to go." They left the school and made the fifteen-minute walk across the river that runs through the town and past three blocks filled with multi-story corporate buildings to the designated location. An unusually quaint building for something that was supposed to be the starting point for participants. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea. A line that had ended at the end of the block impeded their forward progress. "Seriously? Ugh, I am not waiting in line for this."

"Same, let's get outta here."

"Oh, hey. Let's go to a few stores to get some cards, go back home, collect all the cards we currently have, and then meet up at the park."

"Why?" Sakura was confused by what Jun said. As far as she knew, the forty cards in their main decks and any fusions they used in their extra decks were always good enough.

"New cards were supposedly released yesterday along with the announcement to not only expand on the game, but also to better suit the new rules. Odds are cards will be selling like crazy so we'll have to hit up a few spots."

"New rules?" Sakura was too excited after hearing about the tourney that she didn't hear the commercial say that new cards and rules have now been implemented.

"Yeah. I'll tell you on the way." Jun and Sakura had gone to a few of their usual spots in order to get their new cards with Jun explaining the rules. They were just able to get their hands on twenty-two packs of five new cards that they would have to share. After that, they split up to go get the rest of the cards they had, and then met up at the park. By the time they reconvened, the sun was setting and casting a warm, orange glow on the city.

"Wow! These are some really nice looking pulls!" Jun's eyes were lit up in wonder and excitement at some impressive looking cards. He was currently holding on to the monster cards Beta the Magnet Warrior, Queen's Knight, Sinister Serpent, the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon, and the trap card Time Seal.

"You bet! Check these out!" Sakura showed Jun the monster cards Berfomet, Gamma the Magnet Warrior, Goblin Attack Force, King's Knight, and the fusion monster Kaiser Dragon.

"Hey, look at that. Queen's Knight and King's Knight. Beta and Gamma. They must be related."

"Good eye, Juny. Hey, check it. The text for King's Knight says that if it's summoned while Queeny is in play, you can bust out something called Jack's Knight." This realization grabbed both of them and then they tore up the rest of the packs to see if they can find Jack's Knight, anything that can be related to the Magnet Warriors, and anything else they can get their hands on.

By the end of the day, the table they were at was covered in cards both old and new as Jun and Sakura were trying to create new decks in order to fit the new rules. But they both knew they had that one special card that they would add no matter what.

"All right. I think I got something. There was surprisingly a lot of stuff in this expansion that can be used to benefit Skull Knight. Attack boosts, magic based cards. This is great." Skull Knight, a relatively recent spellcaster type, despite the name, is a fusion monster that has become Jun's favorite and go-to monster for any sticky situation. He crafted his new deck to be spellcaster/fusion reliant with three copies of Polymerization, a few recovery cards, the necessary fusion materials, and even a few copies of the new Beastking of the Swamps to act as a substitute if needed.

"And I got stuff that can bust out some high leveled guys like my Red-Eyes." The Red-Eyes Black Dragon is Sakura's ace in the hole. The old rules stated that one could play any monster other than fusion and ritual monsters right away. But now, high level monsters, like the level seven Red-Eyes, needs monsters on the field to tribute in order to summon. Sakura wanted to be able to play Red-Eyes relatively easily, but then saw that with how she was creating her deck, she could throw in a few other high levels such as the new Sword Hunter, and use those in case she couldn't get to her dragon. She ended up crafting a warrior/dragon deck that focus on high level summons. She even managed to include a fusion monster.

By the time they were done, the sun had set. "Wow. Did we really spend the entire afternoon doing this?"

"Yup. Wanna bail and try registering tomorrow?"

"I can do tomorrow." Jun and Sakura picked up their remaining cards and left. Along the way, Jun had an uncommon smile on his face as he walked home. A lifetime of bullies and loneliness, even with Sakura in his life, had left him with little to smile about. Sakura couldn't be with him all the time, so every now and then, he would go back in his shell as painful memories of his earlier days would resurface. Knowing that he was going to be a part of a tournament dedicated to his favorite pastime was able to bring out one of his rare smiles.

But that smile was short lived as he realized, he forgot to do his homework. "Aw, man."

The next day, after class, Jun and Sakura ran from the school as soon as the day was out to try and get to registration. There was a line like last time, but this time the line didn't go out of the store. Only a few people were in line.

"Oh, thank God." Sakura breathed a sigh of release at the sight.

"No kidding." They had to wait only a few minutes until it was their turn.

"Hey, pal. We're here to sign up for Battle City."

The store owner, tired from all the disk purchases he made prior, was startled by Sakura's tone and demeanor as she casually leaned on the front counter, but then cleared his throat and regained his composure. "All right, you're just in time. There's only a few disks left. All I need are your names and the starting card you'll be using as your ante."

Jun had explained to Sakura that a new ante rule was being implemented for the tourney where the loser must forfeit their rarest card, along with a locator card that would be supplied with the duel disk. They had no idea why this was being put into effect, but they knew that if they win, they would get some pretty good cards out of it.

"Yamada Junpei. My card will be Skull Knight."

"Harada Sakura. Red-Eyes Black Dragon."

The owner entered both of their data into the computer, which then showed that they are now participants. "All right, then. You two are now tournament players, I just need to get your disks now." He entered the back room to get two of the remaining disks that hadn't been picked clean off the shelves and gave them to Jun and Sakura. For a price of course. But both of them didn't care that they had used up the rest of their allowance, this was too good to be true. "Inside the boxes you'll find there's a locator card that you will need to collect six of. Even if you still have rare cards to ante, if you're all out of locator cards, you will be disqualified. No exceptions."

"Wow, tough rules. That means we have to at least win our first duels to make continue." Sakura said.

"We can do it. Let's get outta here. Thanks for the disks." Jun and Sakura left the store with their new purchases and were dying to try them out. But they both agreed to wait to have their first official Battle City duel during the tournament. This was something special for the both of them.

The days dragged on and both Jun and Sakura couldn't wait for the tourney. The day before it finally came and they could hardly sleep. But neither of them, nor could anyone else, save for an enigmatic Egyptian woman, know of the imminent dangers that lie ahead of them.

Morning came, and duelists with their new duel disks attached to their arms were scattered throughout the city. Jun was currently in the town square plaza, waiting for the clock to strike nine. Jun and Sakura, both in their casual out-of-school attires, had decided to start at different points in town to not only avoid each other until they had gathered the necessary locator cards, but also to make sure they had as many duelists as possible to choose from without snatching any away from the other. As Jun was thinking about Sakura, his mind drifted back to when he first encountered the wild child and how their unlikely friendship began.

Six-year-old Jun was at his elementary school trying to get through the day without encountering the school bully during break. But today, like every other day, was not meant to be kind to him.

"Hey, kid!" Jun was filled with dread when he heard that voice. And what made it worse was that even though he was just six, he knew that six-year-olds shouldn't be feeling dread whenever they hear someone call out to them. The only things he should have to worry about were things like if he did his homework and what's for dinner. Instead, he was constantly harassed by the bully one grade above him, Kazuo Yamamoto. "Ya deaf or somefin'?"

Jun couldn't look his way without feeling that he might break down and start crying. Without thinking, he ran. "Get 'im!" Kazuo was always surrounded on either side with a couple of lackeys who followed him around. But Kazuo had too big of a head to realize that those two didn't follow him out of respect, but fear. Fear that they might be his next victims. Jun didn't stop, but didn't see where he was going as he rounded a corner and bumped into someone, both of them falling on the floor.

"Ow! Hey! Watch it!" The voice Jun heard was feminine, and when he looked up, he saw a girl that had to have been about his age with messy black hair and an angry look on her face. Without dropping her face, she looked up to see the boys chasing Jun catch up to them.

"Gotcha. Hey, tanks girl for stoppin' 'im. So, kid. Ya ready for some fun?" Jun trembled when he heard that. To someone even twice his age, what Kazuo had planned on doing doesn't seem like much, but to someone who's six, it can seem like much. They liked to do the occasional punch or slap, knocking books down, typical playground bully antics. Jun wouldn't mind it too much, but this was an everyday occurrence. He couldn't stand it anymore, but Kazuo didn't care.

"My name is Sakura! Not girl. And what's goin' on?"

"Nut'in', just gonna play with our friend." Sakura looked down at Jun, and as soon as she saw his shivering form, she knew Kazuo was really bullying him. And bullies were something Sakura couldn't stand.

Jun didn't see what happened, but he definitely heard sounds of fighting. After the sounds stopped, he looked up and saw Sakura breathing hard over the beaten Kazuo and his cronies. "No way! You're just a girl!" That drove Sakura over the edge and was about to wail on Kazuo even more until a teacher walked up to them after being fetched by one of the students. All five of them were brought into questioning, and naturally, Kazuo, the flunkies, and Sakura each got detention for the rest of the week. But Jun knew he had finally met someone who helped him, and that would stay with him for a lifetime.

Jun was brought out of his daydream as several LED screens surrounding the plaza, and the rest of the city, lit up with the face of the creator of the tournament, the teenage tech genius billionaire CEO of KaibaCorp, Seto Kaiba. "Duelists, I welcome you all to Battle City. For those who registered, right now you should be wearing your standard KaibaCorp issued duel disks. This is the tool each of you has been given in order to partake in the tournament.

"The rules are simple. In order to survive, you must win. Before the start of each duel, both players must willingly ante up one locator card, and their rarest card. This is to ensure that only the strongest of the strong make it to the top. And to see who is truly worthy of taking home the title of King of Duels. As an added incentive, the grand winner will take home a generous cash prize of one million yen, tax-free, and a blank check to be used for any KaibaCorp good or service." This caused quite a stir among the participants. Even Jun couldn't deny that the reward enticed him.

"In order to advance to the finals, you will need six locator cards. You each should've gotten one when you purchased your duel disk. But for those who haven't noticed yet, there should be a directional symbol in one of the corners, along with an odd looking picture in the middle. That picture is part of a map that you will put together with all six of the correct locator cards that will reveal the location of the finals. To keep things fair, as a participant myself, I too will need to collect locator cards to find it.

"As soon as the clock strikes nine, the battle for supremacy will start. I wonder who'll make it to the top? Good luck, duelists." As soon as Kaiba stopped talking and his face disappeared from the screens, the clock that stood in the center of the plaza struck nine. Jun was prepared and hoped that Sakura was too.

Jun looked around and noticed someone who looked to be about a few years older with a duel disk and walked up to him. "Hey, you." The guy turned around and saw that he wasn't one to take proper care of his face due to the acne. "I challenge you! What do you say?"

The older boy smiled a crooked smile and leered down at Jun. "Sure thing, little man. You may be a kid but all I need to do is beat you, and then I'll have myself a nice little cushion."

Jun didn't like the guy's tone and attitude. He didn't bother to ask his name, nor give his. "I'm wagering my Skull Knight and a Southwest locator card."

"Sounds good, kid. IF you win, I _might_ give you my super powerful Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, and my North locator card."

"Magna Warrior? Like the Magnet Warriors?" Neither Jun nor Sakura pulled Valkyrion from the packs. They managed to get Alpha the Magnet Warrior but didn't know if anything was to be done with all three of them.

"That's right. And if you're lucky, you just might get to see it in action. Spoiler alert, not even the great Blue-Eyes White Dragon can beat it." This got Jun worried. As far as he knew, the only monsters that could beat the Blue-Eyes were the Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, the fusion monster Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and Exodia. So knowing that another monster has been made that can beat it definitely made him nervous.

"That's fine. Let's do it." Both duelists went to their respective spots and fired up their duel disks. Following the instructions provided for how to use them, they inserted their main and extra decks in their proper places, and then allowed two holographic projectors to shoot out from the duel disks to allow for the battle to take place.

To start, a holographic die appeared in the middle with Jun's name displayed over it. Before either of them could say anything, the die began spinning in place, and it ended on a four. The die had reset with the other boy's name, which Jun saw to be Itsuki, and spun again. This time, it landed on a five, and above the die it said, "ITSUKI GOES FIRST".

"Sounds good to me." Itsuki and Jun both drew their starting hands and the life point counter on their disks lit up and showed four-thousand to begin the duel.

"This'll be a snap." Itsuki drew his sixth card and mentally smirked at his hand. "I start with Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Itsuki placed the card in the slot designated for spell and trap cards, and then an image of the card appeared in front of him showing a green jar with a face that had a wicked smile. After drawing and placing the spell in the graveyard, it simply disappeared. Jun, admittedly, couldn't contain himself as his eyes lit up upon seeing a large version of the card materialize. He couldn't wait to see a monster in action.

"I summon Sangan in defense mode!" Once Itsuki placed the card in a face up horizontal position, a larger version of it appeared and the small, furry, three-eyed monster called Sangan took shape, with an information screen right next to it stating it's a level three, dark attribute, fiend type monster with one-thousand attack points and six-hundred defense points.

"Soooo cooool!" Despite Sangan not looking all that impressive, Jun still couldn't stop himself from saying that and admiring the fact that he is now seeing a moving, life-size depiction of a monster.

"You're weird, you know that? Whatever. I set two cards face-down and end my turn." And true to his word, two cards showed up face-down, ready to be sprung.

"All right, then." Jun drew his card and got a good look at his hand. He already knew how to start. "I activate Fusion Sage. This lets me add Polymerization from my deck to my hand." He searched his deck after playing a spell card that showed an eldery man with a magic tome, and took out one of his copies of the card, then shuffled his deck before putting it back in the disk, and then allowed Fusion Sage to go. "I activate Polymerization! I fuse Tainted Wisdom and Beastking of the Swamps as a material substitute to fusion summon Skull Knight!" Jun took the two listed monsters from his hand and sent them to graveyard by way of fusion summoning and was able to play his ace monster on the first turn. Skull Knight was an imposing figure with the armor covering his torso as one big fashioned skull, and even used a large skull for a shield. He appeared in front of Jun and brandished his sword in his other hand as another screen popped up saying its name and that it's a level seven, dark attribute, spellcaster type monster with two-thousand-six-hundred-fifty attack points and two-thousand-two-hundred-fifty defense points.

But Itsuki saw this as a prime opportunity. "I activate Torrential Tribute! Since you summoned a monster, this card destroys every monster on the field." A flood of water was produced from the activated trap and swamped the field, destroying Skull Knight and Sangan.

"Aw, man! Already?" Jun was greatly upset at the events that unfolded, but Itsuki wasn't done yet.

"Sangan's effect now activates. Since it was sent to the grave when it was first on the field, I can add any monster with fifteen-hundred or less attack points from my deck to my hand to replace it. And I choose Alpha the Magnet Warrior!"

"You should've waited, Itsuki. That was a special summon, so that means I can still normal summon. And I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode!" A young man appeared on the battle field in armor with a cape, and holding a sword in one hand. He's shown to be a level four, light attribute, spellcaster type monster with seventeen-hundred attack points and one-thousand defense points. "Next, since Neo's a spellcaster type, I can equip him with Book of Secret Arts. This gives him a power boost of three-hundred points." A book formed itself by Neo, which he then started reading, as his attack and defense points went up to two-thousand and thirteen-hundred respectively. "I move to my battle phase, and have Neo attack you directly!" Neo raised his sword and began charging at Itsuki, ready to cut his life points in half.

"I activate Call of the Haunted! This lets me take any monster from my graveyard and summon it in attack mode. So I bring back Sangan!" A card depicting a cemetery revealed itself and revived Sangan just as Neo brought his sword down. Sangan was destroyed and Itsuki only lost one-thousand points instead of two, bringing him down to three-thousand. "Sangan's effect activates! This time I add Gamma the Magnet Warrior to my hand."

 _So that's why he didn't wait for a normal summon to activate Torrential Tribute. He's gathering the Magnet Warriors together. As much as I hate to admit it, he's good_. "I set one card face-down and end my turn." As he ends, he realizes that he's already down to one card in his hand and he only managed to knock off one-thousand points. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous.

Itsuki drew his next card. "I activate Graceful Charity! This first lets me draw three cards, but then I have to discard two." Itsuki didn't need to think hard about his decisions which caused Jun to sweat a little. "I set a monster in defense mode, then set another card. I end my turn."

This unnerved Jun. Last time he placed Sangan face-up for the world to see, but now he's concealing his monster. That and his back row card put him on edge. If it's as bad as Torrential Tribute was, then he's in trouble. He drew his card and immediately used it. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two. But you already knew that, didn't you?" He felt better with a hand size of three much more than a hand size of one or two. But right now, he didn't have much else he could do. He decided to take a chance and attack. "I move to my battle phase and attack!" With a sigh of relief, his attack connected, but his moment of triumph was short lived.

"Thanks for that. You just activated my Magician of Faith's flip effect! When it's attacked face-down, it's flipped face-up and uses its power to return any spell card of my choosing from my grave to my hand. I choose Pot of Greed!" Jun knew he was in trouble now. This just meant more opportunities to get Beta and Valkyrion. He didn't know what would happen when all four are brought together, but he knew it couldn't be good.

"I end my turn."

"Aw, is that all? Well now, I have a good feeling that something's gonna happen real soon. I draw, and then I activate Pot of Greed, again!" And just like that, Itsuki had three new cards in his hand to use, bringing his total hand size to eight. This time, Itsuki couldn't contain his smile. "You're in trouble now, kid! I send Alpha, Beta, and Gamma the Magnet Warriors from my hand to my grave, and from my hand I special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!" A thin, stone- gray warrior-looking monster with a sword, a yellow monster with spherical body parts with magnets attached to some, and a round, light-pink monster with wings, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma respectively, appeared all at once on the field. And then, they broke into pieces, then bean putting themselves together into one entity. Valkyrion, a titan of a monster, loomed over the battlefield and a screen appeared to show that it's a level eight, earth attribute, rock type monster that boasts an impressive three-thousand-five-hundred attack points and three-thousand-eight-hundred-fifty defense points. Three things were running through Jun's mind when he laid eyes on it. First: Itsuki was right when he said it's stronger than Blue-Eyes. Second: he thinks it's the coolest looking monster ever and wants it so bad. Third: he couldn't use his face-down Trap Hole to destroy it since it only works on normal and flips summons, not special. He was going to take a beating.

"Battle! Valkyrion attacks Neo!" Valkyrion, using the wings he picked up from Gamma, flew towards Neo and brought Alpha's sword down on him and destroyed Neo and the Book, dealing Jun fifteen-hundred points of damage. Itsuki may only have a slight lead in life points, but he was well ahead of Jun with Valkyrion, a mystery face-down, and one card more than Jun does in his hand. "I end my turn." Itsuki had an air of superiority around him as he looked down once more on Jun.

 _I gotta hold out. Just long enough to get rid of Valkyrion_. Jun got worried as he tried to think of what he could do. He drew his card and his eyes widened as he saw he could do some serious damage with this. "I set one card face-down, and then summon Ancient Brain in defense mode. Turn end." A small, elderly, winged man with his large brain out in the open for the world to see was summoned, and was shown to be a level three, dark attribute, fiend type monster, with one-thousand attack points and seven-hundred defense points.

Itsuki actually laughed when he saw that the only protection Jun provided himself with was a face-down and an old man with an abnormally sized brain. "Man! You are screwed, pal!" He said as he drew his card. "I activate Valkyrion's ability! If all the Magnet Warriors are in my grave, I can tribute Valkyrion and summon back all three to the field!" Valkyrion vanished and in his place stood all three Magnet Warriors in attack mode. All level four, earth attribute, rock types, with Alpha having fourteen-hundred attack points and seventeen-hundred defense points, Beta with seventeen-hundred attack points and sixteen-hundred defense points, and Gamma with fifteen-hundred attack points and eighteen-hundred defense points. "Battle! Alpha attacks Ancient Brain!"

"Sorry, _pal_ , but I activate Mirror Force! This destroys all monsters you have out on the field in attack mode."

"Oh, come on!"

Right after the trap activated, a protective barrier formed around Ancient Brain which destroyed Alpha upon impact, and then proceeded to destroy Beta and Gamma as well. Their duel had drawn in a crowd and everyone was impressed when Jun managed to turn the tables in one move. But Itsuki was going to grab everyone's attention again.

"Main Phase Two. I activate Monster Reborn to revive Valkyrion!" Gone was the smile and the laughing. Jun had managed to keep himself alive and rendered Valkyrion's sacrifice worthless. "Your turn, brat!"

Normally, Jun would call out an opponent that insults someone with an attitude like that, but then he remembered that big prizes and the opportunity to advance in the tourney were at stake here. "I summon Witch of the Black Forest in defense mode, then set one card. Your turn." A mysterious looking woman with purple hair and a third eye appeared with a screen next to her saying she's a level four, dark attribute, spellcaster type, with eleven-hundred attack points and twelve-hundred defense points.

Itsuki didn't bother giving a retort this time. He was ready to end this. "I activate Valkyrion's effect again! I bring back the Magnet Warriors!" Valkyrion broke apart once more and Alpha, Beta, and Gamma reformed on the field. "Next, I summon Rock Ogre Grotto #1 in attack mode! And now I activate Premature Burial! For the cost of eight-hundred Life Points, I can revive the Stone Dragon I discarded with Graceful Charity!" First, a small rock creature appeared that showed to be a level three, earth attribute, rock type monster with eight-hundred attack points and twelve-hundred defense points. Then, a much larger, craggy, serpentine monster appeared in front of a spell card depicting a corpse rising up from a grave, after Itsuki's life points were seen as they dropped from three-thousand to twenty-two-hundred, with the screen displaying its information as a level seven, earth attribute, rock type monster, with two-thousand attack points and twenty-three-hundred defense points.

"Battle! Rock Ogre Grotto attacks Ancient Brain!" The miniature golem moved forward and uses its fists to attack and destroy Ancient Brain. "Alpha the Magnet Warrior attacks Witch of the Black Forest!" Alpha charged the witch and slashed across her with its sword.

"Witch of the Black Forest's effect activates! It's like Sangan's, but instead of a monster with fifteen-hundred or less attack points, I choose one with fifteen-hundred or less defense points. I choose Gemini Elf!"

"Doesn't matter! I still win! I attack directly with Gamma!"

Jun still had a card to play. "I activate Negate Attack! When you attack, I can activate this and instantly end the battle phase!" And with that, Gamma halted in its flight path and returned to Itsuki's side of the field.

Itsuki was really mad now. Not that Jun lasted another turn, but that Jun very clearly adopted his tactic of waiting to use a trap card after using a monster's effect. He saw this usage of technique used against him to be a blow to his ego. "Ya know, kid. You're really starting to tick me off! You know that?"

"Really? I couldn't tell. Could you please make it more obvious?" Jun may not be the most social person in the world, but he knew how to make a comeback. A smirk spread across his face as he saw Itsuki start to fume.

"I end."

Jun knew that despite holding on, he had to get real lucky real fast. He drew his card, and saw that he indeed got very lucky. "I activate Dark Hole! This destroys every monster on the field!" Itsuki was muttering curses under his breath as a black hole appeared under the field and destroyed all of his monsters and the Premature Burial that was equipped to Stone Dragon. "I summon Gemini Elf in attack mode!" Two beautiful elves appeared and were standing next to each other, waiting to attack as one. The information screen had read level four, earth attribute, spellcaster type, with nineteen-hundred attack points and nine-hundred defense points.

"Battle! I attack directly with Gemini Elf!"

"I activate Ring of Destruction! I target one monster on the field, destroy it, and then we both take damage equal to that monster's attack!" The card Itsuki set on the first turn revealed itself to show a metallic ring that appeared and latched itself onto Gemini Elf, then exploded. It destroyed Gemini Elf and dealt both players nineteen-hundred points of damage, bringing Itsuki down to three-hundred, and Jun to six-hundred.

"Aw, man." Jun realized he's in trouble. He doesn't have anything in his hand that's useful at the time, and a face-down Trap Hole that only works when the opponent either normal or flip summon a monster with one-thousand or more attack points. "Turn end."

"You're done for! I summon another Beta in attack mode!" Ituski summoned his second copy of the Magnet Warrior, but that caused Jun to let out his breath he was holding.

"I activate Trap Hole! You normal summoned a monster with more than one-thousand points, so now it's destroyed!"

Itsuki could only look on in anger as his victory was taken away from him once again. Not wanting to leave things up to chance, "I activate Swords of Revealing Light! So long as this card stays on the field, you can't attack for three turns!" Three swords of iridescent light manifested in front of Jun, preventing him from attacking to finish Itsuki off. "Your turn."

Despite not being able to attack, Jun knows that Itsuki still can. He needs something now. He saw his new card and knew he could use it. "I set one card face-down. Turn end."

"That's it? Looks like I win!" Itsuki was sounding like he had already won, but Jun's traps have proved to be bothersome. But he had to end it as soon as possible. "I summon D.D Warrior in attack mode!" A young boyish figure, clad in armor, took to the field with a long sword. Next to him, the screen said he's a level four, earth attribute, warrior type monster, with twelve-hundred attack points, and one-thousand defense points.

He has to go for it. "Battle! I attack with D.D Warrior!" Itsuki's warrior leapt forward and was ready to strike Jun.

But this caused Jun to smile. "I activate Magic Cylinder! This redirects your attack right back at you!" Two large multi-patterned cylinders appeared with D.D Warrior going into one of them, and then shooting out the other, headed straight for Itsuki who could only watch in horror and despair as his own monster was going to take him out of the tournament. The attack connected, and Itsuki's life point gauge fell down to zero.

The crowd cheered for Jun's win as D.D Warrior and Magic Cylinder faded away, signifying the end of the duel. They all witnessed Itsuki's poor behavior and had all wanted Jun to come out on top.

For a moment, Jun was speechless. Then, a smile broke out on his face as he took in the fact that he won his first Battle City duel, and was now one step closer to the top. He approached Itsuki, and with a hand outstretched he said, "Good game." But Itsuki didn't respond well.

"Yeah? So what?"

This got a few words of disdain from the audience. "All that happened was you got lucky. I shouldn't have to give my cards to someone who only won cuz of luck." This got the entire crowd in an uproar of boos and jeers with Jun quietly putting his hand down, knowing from experience that people like him won't listen to reason.

"Come on, man! You lost fair and square!"

"Don't be such a sore loser!"

"You deserve to get whooped!"

Taunts were being flung at Itsuki from the crowd left and right as he wouldn't comply to the rules and forfeit his Valkyrion and locator card. Itsuki saw the crowd press together to ensure that he wouldn't leave unless he played nice. Jun felt a spark of elation and pride at seeing the spectacle. Never in his life had he had anyone other than Sakura stand up for him, but now he's surrounded by total strangers who are on his side and are going to see to it that he gets his rewarded for a solid victory.

Itsuki knew he was boxed in, and the constant taunts and insults were enough for him to cave in. "All right! All right! Here! Valkyrion and the North locator card! Happy?"

"I am now." When Jun obtained his new cards, he said nothing else as an opening appeared in the crowd and watched as Itsuki ran straight through it.

"Everyone . . . thank you." That was the best Jun could get out as he was still choked up from the gesture. But it was enough for the crowd to respond in kind. They congratulated him, gave him the occasional pat on the back, and then dispersed.

As Jun was reveling in his victory, he began thinking about Sakura and if she's dueling, hasn't dueled yet, or already won one.

Sakura was, in fact, just about to start her first duel. Some guy from another high school walked up to her with a pathetic attempt at flirtation. Sakura shot him down effectively immediately and demanded a duel to make up for trying to move in on her. They decided that Sakura would offer her Red-Eyes and her Northwest locator card, and the boy, whose name she found out to be Nobu, would offer his fusion monster, Meteor Black Dragon, and his Southwest locator card. This got Sakura's attention. Meteor Black Dragon is a Red-Eyes fusion monster that she didn't have.

The die rolled for the both of them, and Nobu gets to go first. Their life point counters each showed four-thousand, and they began.

Nobu drew his sixth card. "I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master! This gives me an additional one-thousand life points. Then, I summon Gale Dogra in defense mode!" First, a spell card illustrating an elderly looking woman with a mystical light in her hand which caused Nobu's life points to increase from four-thousand to five-thousand. Then, he summoned a monster that resembled something of a monstrous, green bee. The information screen said it's a level two, earth attribute, insect type monster, with six-hundred-fifty attack points and six-hundred defense points.

"I activate Gale Dogra's effect! I give up three-thousand life points to send any fusion monster of my choosing from my extra deck to my grave. I choose Meteor Black Dragon!" This threw Sakura for a loop. She's facing someone who raised his life points, and then decreased them to half of his starting amount, all to get a fusion monster in the grave. But then, she realized what he's going to do.

"I activate Monster Reborn to revive Meteor Black Dragon!" A spell with an Egyptian ankh appeared, and from it came the resurrected dragon. The dragon was a brute of a monster with a thick, black body with red markings on it, and the screen next to it says it's a level eight, fire attribute, dragon type monster, with three-thousand-five-hundred attack points and two-thousand defense points. Sakura fell in love with it immediately and knew she had to win now. "I set one card, and end my turn!"

"Cool dragon, Noby! That's gonna make for a sweet prize."

"It's Nobu, actually." He responded sheepishly.

"Well, whatever. It's my turn now!" As much as Sakura was impressed, she knew she had to win the duel first. And looking at her hand, she didn't see anything that could take advantage of Nobu's lowered points, or destroy the dragon. But, she saw she could take it out another way.

"I set one monster in defense mode, then set two cards face-down! Your move!"

Nobu wasn't stupid, he knew that Sakura had to be planning something. If not with her monster, then with her back row cards for sure. "I activate Dark-Piercing Light! This forces all your set monsters to flip face-up!"

Sakura couldn't have planned it better. "You just flipped up Morphing Jar #2!" An ornate pot with one large eye, and a large toothy grin inside it revealed itself. It's revealed to be a level three, earth attribute, rock type monster with eight-hundred attack points and seven-hundred defense points. "My Jar has a nasty little flip effect. All monsters on the field are returned to our decks, we shuffle, and then we burn through the top cards in our deck until we manage to set a number of level four or lower monsters equal to the number that we had out at the start!"

Nobu was shocked that Sakura had such a cunning trap laid out for him, especially when he went to the trouble of getting his dragon out. His dragon returned to the extra deck while Gale Dogra went to the main deck, and Morphing Jar returned to Sakura's deck, ready to be used again. Nobu's first card was a Lesser Dragon which he set face-down. But then he had to throw away Pot of Greed, Curse of Dragon, and Mystical Space Typhoon before he got to Petit Dragon which he also set. Sakura ended up having to send Call of the Haunted and Total Defense Shogun to the grave before she managed to pull Queen's Knight from the deck, and set her in defense mode.

Out of the two cards left in Nobu's hand, he saw that he was finished for the turn. "I end."

"I draw. Man, oh man, this is gonna be a close one. First, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down!" A powerful typhoon formed out or the enlarged spell card and destroyed Nobu's hidden Widespread Ruin. "Next, I flip Queen's Knight into attack mode!" A blond woman in form-fitting red and gold armor appeared with a three-pronged, brilliant red shield in one hand, and a finely crafted sword with a decorated hilt in the other. Level four, light attribute, warrior type, with fifteen-hundred attack points and sixteen-hundred defense points. "I now summon King's Knight in attack mode!" An imposing man with impressive facial hair, ornately crafted armor, an intricate round shield, and a well-made sword made his presence known next to Queen's Knight. Another level four, light attribute, warrior type, but with sixteen-hundred attack points and fourteen-hundred defense points.

Nobu thought he was in the clear and that Sakura was merely bluffing, but she wasn't finished. "King's Knight effect activates!" She exclaimed in hidden delight as she gets to use this move in her first Battle City duel. "Since I successfully normal summoned him in attack mode, I get to special summon Jack's Knight from my deck in attack mode!" The third "face card monster" appeared alongside his counterparts. What was summoned was a tall man in shimmering blue armor, a blue shield with a yellow cross sculpted in the middle, and a sword with what looked like a crown used for its hilt. Unlike the other knights, Jack's Knight is level five instead of four, and is a light attribute, warrior type monster, with nineteen-hundred attack points and one-thousand defense points. Nobu paled when he saw the situation he was in.

"Battle! I'll have King's Knight attack the monster on my right, and Queen's Knight attack the left!" Both knights charged at the set monsters, then swung their swords and chopped Lesser Dragon and Petit Dragon in half. "Now, I attack you directly with Jack's Knight!" Jack's Knight moved quickly across the field and then stabbed Nobu with his sword. Being only holograms, the sword phased through him, but the damage was still dealt, leaving Nobu with only one-hundred life points left.

The gathered crowd was looking in amazement. Sakura stared down a monstrous dragon, rid the field of it, and then nearly won the duel on her second turn. A few of the spectators were commenting on the situation with "He's lost", or "It's over". But Nobu would still try and win if he can.

"Your turn, Noby!"

Ignoring the nickname, Nobu drew his card, "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards!" After drawing his two new cards, he saw that he still has a chance. "I activate Dark Hole to destroy every monster on the field!" The same black hole that appeared in Jun's duel opened up below them and effectively crushed all three knights.

"Dang it!"

"It gets worse! I activate Heavy Storm to destroy every spell and trap card on the field!" Sakura's two cards were blown away by a powerful storm, revealing themselves to be Mirror Force and Trap Jammer.

"Maaaan!"

"I summon Koumori Dragon in attack mode!" A slender, two-legged, purple dragon with red highlights on the wings appeared, ready to strike. Level four, dark attribute, dragon type monster, with fifteen-hundred attack points and twelve-hundred defense points.

"I equip my dragon with Dragon Treasure to give it an additional three-hundred attack and defense points!" A mystical orb shone around Koumori Dragon as it increased its attack and defense power to eighteen-hundred and fifteen-hundred respectively.

"Battle! Koumori Dragon attacks you directly!" There was nothing Sakura could do as the empowered beast came hurtling towards her and reduced her life points to twenty-two-hundred.

Nobu had used up all the cards in his hand. "I end my turn."

The crowd was getting excited. Sakura had finally taken damage, and this could be Nobu's comeback. Some people were encouraging Nobu, while others were cheering Sakura on. Although she noticed it was mostly males who were doing it though.

"You got a pretty weird deck, Nobu. But I like it! Using weird moves to get your dragon out. Wipin' out my field. This is awesome!"

Nobu was surprised when Sakura not only complimented him for his deck and the duel, but also for using his actual name. He then smiled.

"Thanks! You know, your deck is pretty awesome too. I'm also having a good time."

Nobu and Sakura both had a look of understanding as they acknowledged the other.

"Well then, let's see if I can keep this up. _Yeah, I say that, but I'm in trouble unless I draw somethin' good real fast_. She drew. "I activate Graceful Charity! With this, I draw three cards, but then discard two." Once she drew her new cards, she knew what to discard, and how to win.

"I activate Premature Burial! I pay eight-hundred life points to bring back the Summoned Skull I sent to the grave with Graceful Charity!" As her life points went down from twenty-two-hundred to fourteen-hundred, a demonic, bone-white and magenta colored figure with black wings appeared, brandishing its claws with surging electricity. Level six, dark attribute, fiend type monster, with twenty-five-hundred attack points, and twelve-hundred defense points. Nobu, despite knowing he lost, had a small smile on his face for a game well played.

"Battle! I attack with Summoned Skull!" Summoned Skull shot out a continuous stream of lightning from its raised claws at Koumori Dragon who writhed in pain for a small bit before disappearing, along with the rest of Nobu's life points.

The audience cheered and applauded as Summoned Skull vanished for not only a good duel, but also for the sportsmanship both Nobu and Sakura showed.

"Man, you really got me. I thought I had something with my dragons."

"You did! You got some pretty good cards there."

"Two of which are now yours. Here. Meteor Black Dragon, and a Southwest locator card."

"Thanks a lot, pal! Hey! Let's have a rematch when the tourney's over. That way we don't have to worry 'bout antes next time."

"Sounds good! Good luck with the tourney." They shook hands after Nobu gave his cards to Sakura, who would definitely rework her deck just a little bit to fit in her new dragon.

With final parting words, they departed from the area. Sakura held her head high as she is now on her way to the top. As she was walking, hoping to find someone else soon, she began to think about Jun and if he's won a duel yet.

Jun was mindlessly walking around, not in any rush to find someone new. The qualifying round lasts for four days with the finals supposedly taking place on the fifth day. But as he was thinking about the tournament, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to his deck. _Maybe I need to tweak it some more_. He was slightly afraid of what Itsuki said to him, that he won mostly by luck. _It's a card game, luck's part of it_. He decided that it wouldn't hurt to review his deck and give it some modifying just in case.

"Hey, kid!"

Jun stopped dead in his tracks. Someone was calling out to him from behind. And he knew who it was from the voice. The voice itself was deeper than he remembered, but he recognized the tone, the attitude, and even in the way the words sounded. He knew it was someone whom he thought to have left behind in his memories when he graduated his elementary school and left for middle school. All the unpleasant memories from that time came rushing back to him. The beatings, the abuse, the name-calling. All of it came back full force as he couldn't bring himself to turn around.

"Ya deaf or somethin'?" Kazuo Yamamoto was standing a few yards behind Jun, and his face showed malicious glee as he saw Jun freeze.

 **That's the first chapter. Hope you liked it. Sorry if it was too long for a starting chapter. Something I want to do with each chapter is show at least one duel with Jun and Sakura each. This way, with every chapter, you'll know that you're going to get a good amount out of each. I was originally going to have this be just the introductory chapter, but I thought there was too little of what I wrote before Jun's duel. I'm not an experienced enough writer that can compose an entire chapter dedicated to exposition and not think it's too short. So I decided to write a 9k+ word chapter to accommodate for that. Also, it gets us right into the action. I know it would've made more sense to split up the opening and the duels into two chapters, but for a first time doing this, I'm feeling all right about this decision.**

 **Not sure when the next chapter will be out, but it will be here. . . eventually.**


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